Page 31 of My Forbidden Professor

“I don’t think I do. The business will do well with or without me. I’d like to open my own business one day.” I send him my side-smile. “Something in business analytics.”

“Now I know you’re joking,” he says.

I ignore the pang that goes through my chest. Jacob has no idea who Dad is, or how loaded that question is. I’ve skirted around, telling him half-truths.

He accepts me. No matter what.

But then my head floods with memories of people who pretended to like me.

Jacob is different. I know he is.

I open my mouth to tell him the whole truth. I want to tell him. I want him to know everything about me, but Daniel’s face crests the wave crashing around the inside of my skull and I chicken out.

With his hand still holding mine, Jacob leans closer and gently brushes a strand of hair behind my ear. His touch is feather-light but it sends a full-body shiver through me. “Where did you go just then?”

I smooth the line that forms between his brows. “Nowhere important.”

“You know you can tell me, Steph. There’s nothing you can say that will change how I feel about you.”

The breeze chills instant perspiration on my skin. My throat tightens, threatening to choke me. Words clog up behind the imaginary dam.

“I know. You’ll tell me when the time is right,” he whispers and my heart cracks more.

How long can I put him off before it becomes too much for him? And he too, becomes the last in a line of faces that don’t make it past those insurmountable walls I’ve built inside me. Walls that no longer feel protective. Now they’re a prison.

My breath eases out and I echo his words. “When the time is right.”

I reach out and place my hand on his cheek, feeling the slight scruffiness of his beard against my palm. Jacob leans in closer, his lips so close to mine that I feel his warm breath fanning my face.

“Steph,” he says on a gravelly whisper. A beautiful promise of so many things. Things I will selfishly take.

I flex my fingers on his thigh and lean in. His gaze flits to my eyes before he ducks his head and presses his lips to mine. A soft brush, a caress. Then he pulls back, just enough. Our breath mingles. Our chests rise and fall in unison. Only it doesn’t feel like enough. I want more. I need more. I nip at his bottom lip. Our breaths tangle as our mouths meld together. I sink into him–the taste, the touch, the heat of him. My entire body thrums with awareness. An ache blooms deep in my belly. This is a step beyond desire. Beyond need. This is something more elemental. More intrinsic. Something I’ve waited my entire life to experience. Something I need only from him.

The lake and the trees, the sky and clouds, the worry and pain—everything—falls away leaving only the two of us. His thumb swipes across my skin, leaving a trail of searing heat that spreads to my chest. My belly coils with anticipation.

A soft moan vibrates through his chest and he fists my shirt. He stands and raises me with him. Our bodies slot together and he tangles both hands in my hair, keeping me plastered to his chest. My fingers leave burning trails up his stomach to his shoulders. I press against him, greedily taking all of him I can. His mouth moves over mine, sparking fires. I don’t think I can ever get enough of him. I crave to kiss him senseless, to explore every inch of his mouth, to learn the subtleties of how he tastes and how he reacts to my touch.

Butterflies erupt in my stomach as though escaping, and that ache grows. A pleading. A yearning to be even closer. Jacob’s hands splay over my back, holding me tight. He deepens the kiss, sweeping inside and tangling our tongues. My heart trips and stumbles over an invisible line and there is no way back. Not that I want to return.

He breaks our kiss and we stare at one another, both breathing hard. Neither of us moves. “Come on. Let’s get you inside.”

He takes my hand and leads me back to the house. I’m dazed and disorientated, going willingly with him, swimming in the ocean of us. Of Jacob and Steph. Consumed with thoughts of the days ahead. Four days where I’ll take all of him and give him all of me in return. I’ll pretend that time doesn’t exist and that we can always be like this. Together, carefree and willing. I’ll live in that delusion because I know how this will end.

Because the right time will never come.

Chapter Fourteen

Steph

I wipe the crumbs off the countertop and make sure the kitchen is clean and tidy as Jacob ties off the trash bags.

“I’ll take these out and grab our bags from upstairs,” he says, before kissing my cheek and disappearing up the stairs to our bedroom.

Our bedroom. The phrase rings with a bittersweet note.

I nod and smile, caught in the juxtaposition of loving the four days we’ve spent in each other’s arms and the reality that after the four-hour drive back to the campus, it will all be over and we’ll have to pretend once again.

We shouldn’t have to hide.

---